22 March 2010

Eco Lawn Service Opens in Scotland

Horticulture Week

The Great Lawn Company has launched with eight franchisees offering environmentally-friendly domestic lawn care in the Edinburgh and Glasgow areas.

Founded by ex-greenkeepers Ian MacMillan and Andrew Turnbull, the company has adapted the range of chemical-free lawn care products and petrol-free reel lawn mowers offered by All Turf Management to meet the needs of the domestic market.

Turnbull said: "We intend to compete with the likes of Greenthumb when we roll out nationally with a focus on being family friendly. When you have companies doing lawn care and spraying people's lawns with all sorts of chemicals - for the kids to then go and roll in; to us that's just not right."

Turnbull has been producing carbohydrate nutrition mixes in Belfast and MacMillan has trialled them on turf grass in Scotland over the last two years.

They plan to trial the business model with the eight franchisees for another year before rolling out nationally in 2011.

Five of the eight lawn service franchisees are ex-greenkeepers and all have undergone an intensive training course in carbohydrate nutrition.

Turf care machinery dealer SGM have already endorsed the new business and they have opened their premises to house the product range and for training and help in the management of the business.